


NRT

by stillinbeta



Series: Diakko Week 2020 [1]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26056867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillinbeta/pseuds/stillinbeta
Summary: At age six, while stuck in an airport departure lounge with her mother, Diana Cavendish makes a new friend.Entry for Day 1 ofDiakko Week 2020: Childhood Friends
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Series: Diakko Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1891576
Comments: 7
Kudos: 81





	NRT

“Konnichi wa!” 

“Huh?” 

The din of the airport was briefly interrupted. Diana looked up to see a girl about her age waving eagerly at her. 

“Akko desu!” 

Diana knew English, of course. And some French, from her au pair, and Latin from her books. But she’d never even heard the language this other girl was speaking to her. It was… frustrating. Diana did not like not knowing the answer to something. 

“Sorry, I don’t…” 

The girl cut her off. 

“Oh, English! English a little!” 

It was heavily accented, but Diana was used to that. Cavendish Manor was always populated with diplomats and businesspeople from all over the globe. It was extremely rude to comment on guests’ pronunciation, and probably the same applied here. 

“You know English?” 

“Akko knows English!” 

Well, that was a start, at least. 

“I’m Diana,” she said. She pointed to herself for emphasis. 

“Diana, Diana!” 

Akko seemed to roll the word around in her mouth. It sounded strange on her tongue, the sounds not quite right. But Diana found she didn’t much mind it. 

“Where… Diana going?” 

“Oh, um, Singapore. My mother has some business there to attend to.” 

“Sugoi! Never been… Shingapōru,” Akko bounced excitedly. 

“We probably won’t leave the hotel,” Diana grumbled under her breath, then caught herself. It was not becoming to complain like that. 

Akko cocked her head, but Diana waved her off. That gesture was thankfully universal. 

Diana straightened her skirt. “What about you? Where are you going?” 

“Hokkaido. To see Obāchan and Ojīchan!” 

“Ah. I’ve never been.” 

“Really pretty!” 

“I’m sure!” 

“Like Diana.” 

“Mmm.” Wait. Wait a second. “What?” 

Akko nodded. “Diana’s pretty!” 

This was… probably a cultural difference. Mum had told her about those. 

“Not everyone is British,” she would say. “We used to pretend we could make them British, but that was wrong. Now, we Cavendishes must be respectful of all people around the world.” 

Satisfied with that explanation, Diana smiled back at her new acquaintance. 

“You’re lovely yourself.” 

Akko grinned even wider, and suddenly Diana felt her stomach turn over. Perhaps the in-flight meal had gone down poorly. She would have to visit the lavatory before the connecting flight departed. 

Not sure how to continue the conversation, Diana returned to her book. But the sound of someone taking the seat beside her caught her attention, and there was Akko peering over her shoulder. 

“Diana’s reading what?” 

“Oh, this? History of Greece.” 

“Grease…” Akko scrunched up her face in concentration. 

Diana’s stomach flipped again. Perhaps she would complain to the airline. 

“It’s a country, in the Mediterranean.” 

“Medito…” Akko shook her head. 

“Do you know… Zeus?” 

Diana was proud of reading the kind of books that didn’t have many pictures, but there were a few in the middle of this book. She flipped to them, and showed Akko an illustration. 

“Ahh! Yes!” Akko nodded excitedly. 

Diana showed her a few more of the pictures. It was difficult to get more than one or two word responses out of Akko, but that was okay. Certainly Akko’s English was much better than Diana’s Japanese. So far she had learned “Hello,” “Cute,” and “Awesome,” the latter of which Akko used very frequently. 

“Diana’s very nice,” Akko told her. 

“T-thank you,” Diana said. 

“Flight is when?” 

Diana looked up at the clock on the wall. “An hour, I think?” 

“Ehhhh. Stay longer!” 

“I’m afraid I can’t. I need to go with my mum.” 

Akko was _pouting._ It was absolutely “kawaii.” 

“I’m sorry,” Diana added. 

“Diana likes Chocolate?” 

“Of course!” 

“Come on! Let’s get Choco!” 

Before Diana could complain, Akko grabbed her hand and dragged her towards a nearby shop. Mum didn’t even look up from her own book. Diana would simply have to be back before she was missed. 

The store was overwhelming. Everything was so bright, colourful, and loud. It was a lot like her new friend. Things simply cried out for attention. 

“What do you like here?” She turned to ask Akko, but Akko had run off to a corner of the store. For some reason, she found herself missing the girl’s hand in hers. Whenever mum held her hand, she just felt babied. But this was very different somehow. 

Diana tried to focus on the pictures, since nothing was labelled in English. But she didn’t recognise a lot of those, either. So many weird fruits she’d never seen before. And who would flavour a candy with flowers? 

“Arigato Gozaimasu!” 

Akko had evidently found something she liked, and she bounded over. She looked… nervous? 

“I.. um… Chocco!” 

Akko proffered a small box of chocolates, which looked much fancier than all the ones Diana had been looking at. 

“For Diana!” Akko said. “Take!” 

Was she… blushing? 

“Akko? Are you okay?” 

“Choco!” 

“Okay…” 

Well, it would be rude to refuse a gift. And from the look on Akko’s face, she’d start bawling if Diana didn’t take it soon. 

The box was beautiful, though Diana was worried there might be flowers inside the chocolates. Why else would they be on the box? Maybe flowers were delicious. Clarise ate flowers sometimes, and she seemed happy enough. But Diana had tried Clarise’s feed and it wasn’t very good at all. 

“Thank — um.” Diana may not know Japanese, but she could figure some things out from context. “Arrygatto?” 

It must’ve gotten the point across, because Akko lit up like a Christmas tree. 

And then she kissed Diana. 

Just a quick one, right on the cheek. 

Some of Diana’s more continental family gave kisses as greetings, but this was absolutely not that. She put her hand to her cheek, almost subconsciously, like she’d still be able to feel it. 

“Diana…” Akko frowned. 

She looked like she was searching for the right word. It must be frustrating, not being able to communicate what you wanted to. Diana had read as many books as she could get her hands on, so she could always express what she wanted to. But right now, all of that was useless. 

“Diana pretty,” Akko finally settled for. 

“Akko kawaii,” Diana responded. 

And she meant it too. She had a sneaking suspicion Akko was going to stick in her brain for quite a long time. One never really forgets a face like that. 

Diana smiled at Akko. She hoped it was half as bright as Akko’s own. 

The two of them walked hand in hand back to the boarding area. 

There were some announcements, mostly in Japanese. But it looked like people were starting to get ready for the flight. Diana looked sadly over at her new friend. 

“Time to go.” 

“No!” Akko grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug. “Stay.” 

“I wish I could,” Diana whispered. 

“Wife.” 

“What?” 

“We marry. Then you stay!” 

Diana frowned. “Girls can’t marry each other.” 

Akko let out a string of Japanese that Diana suspected were less than polite. 

“Stupid. Wanna marry Diana.” 

Impossible, obviously. But it certainly did have its appeals. All of the boys Diana had met had been boring and mean. Akko was nice and friendly and soft. So maybe, just for a little bit longer, she could pretend. 

“Let’s do it,” she said. 

Akko looked up. “Ehh?” 

“Not now. But next time, we get married.” 

“Yay! Wife Diana!” 

Diana nodded. “Wife Akko.” 

The two of them held hands until Diana’s flight had almost finished boarding. Just before the doors closed up, Diana decided to take one last risk. She grabbed Akko in a tight hug, and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. 

Akko looked back at her, eyes shiny with tears. 

“Next time,” she said. 

“Next time,” Diana agreed. 

Later, while settling into their seats, Diana got out her box of chocolates. She popped one in her mouth, and was relieved to discover there were no flower petals in it. But it did taste different. Kind of fruity. 

“Where’d you get those?” her mum asked. 

“My fiancée gave them to me.” 

Her mum gave her one of those looks adults gave her when they didn’t think she was making sense. But this seemed perfectly obvious to Diana, so she didn’t need to explain. 

It was only when their flight got into the air that she realised she’d forgotten to even give Akko her address. 

* * *

It was Diana’s first day at Luna Nova. There was never really a doubt that she’d end up here, of course. She was already being hailed as the most talented witch of her generation. Her roommates, Hannah and Barbara, had been with her since primary school. And she’d toured the school enough times as a prospective student that it practically felt like home already. 

She recognised most of her fellow students. The community of witches wasn’t particularly large, and usually those who ended up at Luna Nova were from prestigious families. And those prestigious families had a tendency to hob-nob with each other at every opportunity they got. 

Sure, there were a few international students she didn’t know. But certainly they all knew her. The Cavendish name may not have had quite the lustre it did in centuries past, but any witch worth their salt still held it in esteem. 

Diana was used to being the centre of attention when she walked into a room. It was dull, even tedious at times, but it felt as natural as a fish moving through water. Which was why she noticed immediately when she entered the great hall and not a single person turned to look at her. Their attention was all directed towards the entrance and the Leyline portal. 

“What’s going on?” she asked one of the students. Avery, maybe? 

“You haven’t heard? We’re getting a student from a non-magic family. Everyone’s so curious to see who she is. She must be pretty powerful if she got into Luna Nova without a legacy!” 

Diana nodded. A potential rival, maybe. But there would be time for that later. Right now she needed to find some lunch to… 

“LOOK OUT!” 

A broom appeared out of nowhere, barrelling towards her. She didn’t even have a chance to draw her wand before it — and its riders — collided with her. 

“Sorry, sorry!” 

Diana recognised Lotte, a witch from Scandinavia. She was about to greet her, but then she stopped. That looked like… it couldn’t be. 

A brunette was babbling at her. “I’m still getting the hang of the broom, and I really wanted to fly even though Lotte said I shouldn’t and this is a terrible first impression. I’m Akko, and you are?” 

Diana was in shock. How many Akkos were there? Small Japanese Akkos who looked just like the girl that taught her she was a lesbian in Narita nine years ago? Maybe it was a common name there. 

Maybe she wouldn’t remember her. 

“I’m Diana.” 

Akko’s eyes went wide, and she looked like she was about to topple over. She swayed dangerously on her heels. She most definitely remembered. 

“Diana! Yes that’s… wow. Nice to… Diana. See you again.” 

“You… you too.” 

The two of them looked at each other, neither particularly sure how to continue the conversation. Diana tried to ask her how she’d been, what she’d been up to, what in the Nine’s names she was _doing_ here, but her mouth just would not cooperate. Here she was, normally the portrait of decorum, rendered speechless by a near stranger. 

Then, as Diana was trying to figure out how to extricate herself from mental deadlock, Akko made her move. She grinned, pecked Diana on the cheek, and ran off after Lotte. 

Behind Diana, Hannah and Barbara finally caught up. 

“Are you okay?” 

“What happened?” 

“Who on earth was that?” 

“That,” Diana carefully, still looking off into the distance. “was my fiancée.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my amazing wife itsCaravel for proofreading and encouragement!


End file.
